At 9am my head was still foggy from the previous day’s cycle through the vineyards and too many misguided attempts to abuse the bodegas’ good will by feigning interest in purchasing their wares. It was also the precise moment that the punctual-by-Argentine-standards Rafting Expeditions van rang the doorbell of my hostel, ready to take us out into the Andes for immersion into both the Rio Mendoza and the joys of white-water rafting.

While travelling in Mendoza, there is a never-ending list of exciting things to do: hiking, rafting, horseback riding, hot springs, paragliding, almost anything under the sun a tourist could desire. Hidden among these well-known tourist options lies the simple joys of Mr. Hugo’s bike tour. With little advertisement outside Mendoza, and running mostly by word of mouth, Mr. Hugo’s offers visitors the opportunity to bike through Mendoza’s most prized land: the vineyards of Maipú.

Good hotels are places to which you plan on returning. Great hotels are places in which you dream of living; forcing you to rethink your vision of home. Casa Calma sits in the heart of Buenos Aires and aims to be “a home from home”. Argentina’s first eco-hotel is devoted to a philosophy of wellness and organic living; making it an oasis in the womb of a heaving metropolis.

It is known as ‘the game of kings’, not to mention that of idle aristocrats, Argentine dandies, Persian princes, and the model Katie Price, also known as Jordan. Nevertheless the glamour model has not quite made it in the stuck-up circles that frequent the game: she was turned away from a prestigious polo event attended by royalty for being ‘too chavvy’ despite knowing her forelocks from her fetlocks, and having written 11 books on ponies.

It’s 5:30 in the morning and I feel kind of strange. All my life I was used to put on my skies in front of my porch in the Tyrolean Alps. Now I am standing at the corner of Parera y Quintana in the middle of Recoleta, dressed in a skiing outfit, with my backpack and skis in my hand, waiting for a taxi.

Cusco, an ancient city in the Andean highlands of Peru, has streets filled with a buzz of excitement and the surnburnt faces of weary travellers. Los Niños is a small hotel, tucked away in the heart of the Old City. Set up by Dutch woman Jolanda van den Berg in 1998, it is not your run of the mill hotel.

“The philosophy of La Pasionaria is to allow you to feel at home away from home. It doesn’t pretend to be a hotel, it’s a house… it’s a home”. This is how Silvina, owner of La Pasionaria, a small, privately owned and run guesthouse, describes the rural retreat to me as she collects me from the bus station in the countryside of Las Heras, two hours from Buenos Aires.

Amidst the chaos in the bustling heart of microcentro is where architect Carlos Levit sited CasaCalma; an eco-friendly “home away from home” geared to relaxation, calmness and wellness. The ideology behind CasaCalma is three-fold: it combines the spa hotel, with the feeling of being in the comfort of your own home and a strong focus on being kind to the environment.

I slept fitfully the night before my departure. Anxiously imagining the prospect of a week alone among strangers, I was suffering from pre-emptive misanthropy. The impending US election contributed to my panic, and visions of bendy, spandex-clad members of the McCain administration danced in my head.

‘Even getting the bus is fun in Tigre’, I thought to myself as we hopped aboard the Collectiva Interisleña. This isn’t just because, essentially, all the roads are waterways and all the cars are boats in the delta, but also because of the special atmosphere.